Huron
Huron Tennega is a Level 8 Human (variant) Rogue (Inquisitive Archetype) and Fighter (Scout Archetype). Biography Childhood Huron was born in the tiny town of Vareaux, in the Duchy of Tourall, located in a semi-forested mountain valley off the southwest border of Stavenberg. This valley was closed off but for a single narrow pass and thus was of little strategic interest, allowing it to be isolated from the world even throughout much of the Endless War. Nevertheless, Keldar's encroachment brought it to the fore of the New Monarchy, and forces from Aldreic marched in to seize the valley and set up their own fortress. Huron and several other boys his age were taken to serve as scouts, guides and messengers, given they could move through the local terrain better than any of the foreign soldiers could. Terrified by their new overseers and exposure to the blood of the front lines, the boys banded together to make their escape, fleeing by dead of night and evading pursuit through the better knowledge of their homeland. This advantage didn't last and their luck failed in the town of Abersbourg (duchy of Tourall), where they were apprehended by the local thieves. For the next few months, they were forced to earn their keep as beggars and cutpurses. Their "rescue", when it came, came from the unlikeliest source when they tried to rob a visiting recruiter. He recognized the children and cracked down on the operation, ultimately bringing them back into captivity. There he separated them, to be scattered across the border of the kingdom so they could not plot together, but not without a parting gift to ensure their service. He had each of the boys forced to their knees before him, and looking into their eyes he whipped their palms till he cut the flesh, forever wounding and marking them. With this, they would be robbed of much of their strength and immediately recognizable as deserters. Military Life Beaten and forced back into submission, Huron pushed through by focusing on immediate achievements. For weeks, his hands trembled whenever he tried to pick up something, and only by wrapping a cloth tightly against his palm as padding was he able to fight through it for all but the lightest items. A yaun-ti wizard took pity on him and offered him tight gloves as a means to hold the cloth, which proved to be far more liberating. By transmitting force through the glove rather than his palm, he could use the strength of his arm and fingers to make up for it. With time, he sunk further into this mindset, keeping one foot ahead of the other. One of his fellows, a half-orc scout, was impressed by his vigil, and taught him to use the bow. This opened up more opportunities, and the years saw Huron through many places, as he was transferred between stations on the border of Stavenberg, to infiltrate the enemy territory and bring back news of their movements and formations to the nearest watch tower. All the while, he lived by staying wholly focused on his current path to make the next move, giving in to his assigned role under the watchful eyes of his handlers, even as they taunted him with proximity to his ancestral home. At least, he did until it came time to reclaim it. Desertion Over the course of decades, Keldar had continued to push into Aldreic's territory, and in spite of the New Monarchy's encampment they claimed the valley, beginning construction of their own outpost. With his knowledge of the area, Huron was assigned to a forward party that would precede efforts to drive out Keldar's invasion, and so he guided wizards to the entry pass to scout out the local defenses. It was not until too late that he realized that the New Monarchy had no plans of keeping the valley. It had proven difficult to hold and could not aid in the passage of troops, yet could provide an enemy stronghold that was difficult to claim or seige. Instead, the wizards made use of the terrain and set the pass ablaze. It was a dry summer, and the winds funneled the fire inward, trapping anyone within. Stricken, Huron tried to race ahead of the flames, but to no avail. In a matter of minutes, Vareaux lay burning. His final command for the mission was to sift through the remains to find any stragglers. There were none. Everything that was not of stone had burned to the ground. Standing amidst the ashen wreckage, a pressure began to take hold of him, bursting through his thoughts till he made a decision. Whatever he'd lived for, there was nothing remaining for him here, no friends or place to return to. He'd make it on his own, away from this fight. For weeks he snuck his way through the Monarchy's territory, until he came across a particularly curious duo trying to make their way through a garrison - a yaun-ti wizard and half-orc fighter. Struck by a vague sense of nostalgia and familiarity, he bluffed their way past the guards, and in exchange, asked that he be allowed to join the group in their bid for freedom. Words from his days among the dwarves came to mind, and he suggested they moved south, based on tales from survivors of failed expeditions to Mzundelft. Whatever lay there, the war did not move past its borders. If there was any place that would be at peace, it must be somewhere in the mysterious southern lands. Adventuring Life Arc 1 During the journey south of Mzundelft to the realm they would soon know as Tyrland, Huron and his party met up with a bard of minor renown and a drunk mage fighter, as well as an unusual duo of a dragonborn cleric and dwarven paladin, who would altogether form the Usual Suspects. The group found refuge in the shantytown about Leiton, where an attempted robbery led to them stumbling across a massacre of dwarven forces. Upon return to the town, Huron witnessed a bodybag being raised along the walls and tried to pursue, which ultimately set forth a chain of events that led to involvement with the city guard to uproot cells of the elven eco-terrorist group responsible, the Bohemian Circle. Throughout these efforts, the Suspects uncovered an even more unsettling undercurrent of mind control siezing many of the local heads of power, potentially in league with the Circle itself. Seeing as one of these figures was Leiton's own captain of the guard, the Suspects instead allied themselves with the underground dwarven movement, Mzundelft-in-Exile, bolstering their forces, earning enough respect to be allowed into their local politics, and even being graced with the true identity of their fallen king. This was put to the test when the Suspects set forth a plan to uncover traitors in the movement, which nearly backfired into a coupe that had them having to fight through the ranks to return the trustworthy elements to their rightful places. In spite of this setback, they retained the camaraderie to be allowed part of the operation to take back Mzundelft, where the Suspects would prove their mettle yet again. They played a critical role in the Battle of Tyrenstor - Huron himself firing the magic stone that was the final blow that would topple the great mushroom and crush the goblin forces - and turned back the near rout of the Battle of Tzand, enabling the dwarves to reclaim their lost kingdom. Throughout their shared struggles, the Suspects found increasing evidence that the current conflict was merely a continuation of a much older primordial battle, and that they themselves may have been involved at a deeper level, even if they weren't aware of it. Huron was the first to encounter such memories, taking hold of an eyestone which revealed to him a vision of the great dragon conqueror Logarius and his forces being driven back through a portal located in the current town of Leiton. While battling another Circle cell, the Suspects discovered an excavation site beneath the city to uncover the portal, where they met one of the heads of the mind-control current, Tyrland's own ruler, similarly titled Logarius. This came to a head shortly before the Battle of Tzand, where the Suspects encountered the king Logarius in the dwarven Arcanaeum attempting to sieze power. There they had a vision of the great conqueror, who revealed that the Suspects all carried dragon souls of his original lieutenants, and had been cursed to be born again and again without retaining their memories, yet fated to find one another throughout their lives to continue their struggle for the fate of worlds. So emboldened, they did battle with the king, himself a dragon survivor of the war, and laid him low before he could claim the conqueror's power for himself. Although a great victory, their path from here remains unclear, for now the Suspects realize they have even more vast and dangerous mysteries to unfold... Arc 2 ... Past Lives As cursed by the gods, the dragon's soul has lived many lives, of which it is largely unaware, but through its wanderings... * Awaranthas, the bronze dragon, one of the seven lieutenants of Logarius the Conqueror. * Vollenad, a dwarven engineer (~40 3A). This dwarf was one of the seven responsible for finding the eyestones under Mzundelft, and he helped Hjartarson (whom Asutali knows as Tuderick) to create the terrible device in the Arcanaeum at the top of the Golden Tower. Abilities Rogue (3rd level) * ' Sneak Attack: ' +2d6 * ' Archetype: ' Inquisitive Fighter (5th level) * ' Fighting Style: ' (Archery) You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons. * ' Archetype: ' Scout Items Equipment * Head: * Amulet: * Cloak: * Armor: Breastplate. * Hands: Longbow and Buckler. * Ring 1: * Ring 2: * Belt: * Boots: Magic Items Money * Gold: 540 pieces. * Silver: * Copper: Stats Ability Scores Saves and Skills * Saves: DEX, INT. * Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception (Expertise), Persuasion (Expertise), Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Survival. Proficiencies * Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Two Musical Instruments (Flute, Lute). * Weapons: All. * Armor: Medium. * Languages: Common, Dwarvish, Elvish. Other Stats * AC: 17 * Initiative: +4 * Speed: 30 * HP Max: 64 Feats * Sharpshooter: (Level 1) (*) Attacking at long range doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged weapon attack rolls. (*) Your ranged weapons ignore half cover and three-quarters cover. (*) Before you make a ranged attack with a ranged weapon with which you are proficient, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If you do so and the attack hits, it deals +10 damage. * 'Martial Adept: '(Level 7) (*) You learn two maneuvers of your choice from among those available to the Battle Master archetype in the fighter class. If a maneuver you use requires your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver’s effects, the saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice). The chosen maneuvers are Disarming Attack ''and ''Trip Attack. (*) If you already have superiority dice, you gain one more; otherwise, you have one superiority die, which is a d6. This die is used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest. ** '''Disarming Attack: '''When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to distract the creature, giving your allies an opening. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll. The next attack roll against the target by an attacker other than you has advantage if the attack is made before the start of your next turn. ** '''Trip Attack: '''When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you knock the target prone. Category:Eden PCs